Electrical cloth-cutting machine.



PATENTED APR; '7, 1903.

P. HCWE.

ELECTRICAL 'CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION` FILED AUG. 2. 1901.

No MIDDEL.

UNITED YSTATES VPATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK HOWE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF FIVE-SIXTHS TO FENNOCLOTH CUTTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSA- CHUSETTS, ACOPARTNERSHIP.

ELECTRICAL CLOTH-CUTTING` MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,869, dated April 7,-1 903.

Y Application tiled August 2, 1901. Serial No. 70,639. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it mag/concern:

Beit known that I, PATRICK Hows, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Electrical Cloth-CuttingMachines, of'whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing likeparts. 1o My invention is an improvement in electrical cloth-cuttingmachines, its object being to provide a construction which shallbepowerful and yet exceedingly light on the table. As stated more fully inmy Patent No. l5 637,613, granted November 21, 1899, moderncloth-cutters must be electrically operated, and in my said patent Iprovided a compact construction for this purpose; but in practice'I'have found that it was impracticable zo to operate a cloth-cutterhaving such a heavy Weight at its outer end, as, in the iirst place, itsconstant use produces too great a strain on the strength of theoperator, in the Vnext* place this great weight requires' a base or z 5foot plate of such shape and dimensions as to prevent the proper cuttingof very small and narrow pieces of cloth, and, in the third place, saidweight requires rolls and special construction for permitting themovement of the 3o cutter over the table, and these rolls, &c., be-

come rapidly clogged with lint and dirt, all these objections takentogether making it practically impossible to use an electricalconstruction of the said general character. Accordingly in my presentinvention I have provided an electrical construction which whilesecuring all the desired advantages of economy of space, construction,operation, neatness, and convenience permits 4o the employment ofexceedingly-light cutting mechanism capable of cutting the-smallest andnarrowest pieces of cloth and capable of being swung or moved Withoutexertion freely and rapidly in all directions.

The constructional details of my invention will be pointed out morefully in the course of the following description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of myinvention is 5o shown, and the latter will be more particularly definedin the appended claims, also forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of 011e embodiment of myinvention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view thereof in side ele- 55 vation,the table and certain other portions being broken away and shown insection for clearness of understanding. Fig. 3 is a rear elevationthereof, parts being broken away and shown'in section. Fig. Lis acentralver- 6o tical section taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is asectional view on the line 5 5, Fig. 3, showing the eccentric relationofthe motor-bracket.

Y Mounted on a suitable stand a, of any desired construction, is a basea' of a post or column a5, threaded at its lower end, as shown clearlyin Figs. 2 and 4, vand provided above said threaded portion with areduced shaft a, extending up above the supporting-arm of 7o the cutter,as shown at a7, which will be presently described. Mounted on this shaftis a sleeve b, resting on lugs or a shoulder c' of a nut or housing c,adjustable' on the threaded end of the post a5. The sleeve b is shown asan extension or'laterally-projecting portion of l an arm which isconnected at its free end to -a second arm @,carrying the cloth-cutterfat itsouter end. These arms are connected together in usual manner andcarry the operat- 8o ing mechanism of the cloth-cutter, herein shown ascomprising a rod e', driven by gearing at e2 from a pulley g, belt g',and pulley g2 on the armature-shaft of the motor M. The

` motor M is carried by a bracket m, clamped by any'suitable means, asby a bolt m', to the upper end a7 of the post a5. Said bracket has atits lower end upwardly-projecting ears or studs m2,provided withbearing-bolts migwhich carry an internal ring m4, provided ywith otherA9o bearing-bolts 'm5, together constituting a universal joint for acentral bearing m6 for the lower end m7 of the armature-shaft, on whichythe pulley g2 is mounted eccentrically to the vswinging center of thearm d. The bracket 'm is secured to the shaft 0.5 eccentrically, as

indicated at m8, Fig. 5, in coaxial line with said pulley for thepurpose of tightening the belt g' upon being turned slightly around tothe rear, Fig. 1, or to the left, Fig. 5, as laced roo belts cannot berun with cloth-cutting machines on account of the vibration causedthereby, and hence this provision for tightening the belt without lacingit becomes necessary.

By having the motor located over the stationary shaft or support towhich the swinging arms d e are pivoted all the weight is removed fromthe cutter j', so that it is possible to employ an exceedingly narrowand small foot-platef for the disk cutterf2 to cooperate with. Thepractical importance and value of this mattei' will be more apparentwhen it is borne in mind that sufcieut power is required for drivingthese cloth-cutters through a considerable thickness of cloth, at leastone-fourth horse-power being desirable, and to provide such an amount ofpower electrically would require an amount of iron and copper making thecloth-cutter end fof the machine weigh over one hundred pounds, whereasin the construction above set forth the weight of the cutterfis reducedto one pound.

rlhe operatorcannotshove the one-hundredpound electrical cutter aroundon the table all day without great fatigue, whereas there is no diicultywhatever in operating a light cutter of one-pound weight, and yet thecutter is driven just as powerfully in my present construction as in theprevious construction.

The advantage of having the small toe or foot platef is that it makes itpossible to make very small turns and cut very narrow pieces of cloth,both of which are impossible with the large foot-plate and heavy machineas'shown in my before-mentioned patent, and also the lightness of theoperating endfof the machine does away with the necessity of rollers, asalready explained, and permits the machine to be moved quickly andfreely to follow all sharp turns and special patterns with an accuracyimpossible with a heavy moving end.

By turning the nut or sleeve c upwardly the arms d e and cutterf may beraised almost out of contact with the table, thereby permitting thegreatest freedom of movement with the least fatigue.

All the aforesaid lightness of construction and facility of movement aremade possible by having the motor M placed on the stationary standard orsupport of the machine, where it is practically at the center movement,and instead of placing a prohibitive weight at the endfof the machine itgives steadiness of movement, preventinga tendency to vibration in thestandard and giving, in a sense, counterbalancing effect, whileaccomplishing the leading purpose of permitting the machine to be drivenelectrically by a belt in substantially the same manner as in my PatentNo. 355,085, of December 28, 1886.

It will be understood that my purpose is to retain the recognizedadvantages of the old style of machine-for instance, as shown in mylast-mentioned patent-and yet operate the same electrically, as themodern requirements call for electricity as a motive power, requirecorrespondingly high speed, steadiness, durability, dac., and all theseobjects are secured by transferring the weight of the motor from themoving endfof the machine,

to the standard m or stationary support part of the machine, said motorbeing supported thereby independently of the movements of the swingingarm.

It will be seen that by the special construction of the presentembodiment of my invention the motor, driving-pulley, and adjacent partsdo not bring the slightest weight upon the swinging parts of the machineand that the latter are adjustable up and down on the post a5 withoutrequiring any adjustment of the motor or motor-bracket, the adjustmentof the latter by the bolt m' being for the purpose of tightening thebelt g', as explained.

I am aware that many changes in constructional details and arrangementof parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scopeof my invention, and accordingly I do not limit myself otherwise than asexplained hereinafter in the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

l. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising a rotary cloth-cutter, swingingarms carrying said cloth-cutter and also provided with driving means forrotating said cutter, and including a driving-belt, a fixed standard orsupport to which said swinging arms are concentrically pivoted, amotorbracket mounted on said fixed support independently of saidswingingarms, an electric motor carried by said bracket, a driving-pulleyeccentric of the pivotal axis of said arms on said support and driven bysaid motor, said belt pass` ing over and being driven by saiddrivingpulley. j

2. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising av rotary cloth-cutter, swingingarms carrying said cloth-cutter and also provided with driving means forrotating said cutter, and including a driving-belt, a fixed standard orsupport to which said swinging arms are concentrically pivoted, amotor-bracket mounted on said fixed support independently of saidswinging arms, an electric motor carried by said bracket, thearmature-shaft of said motor extending toward said bracket, a pulleylmounted thereon for driving said belt, and a bearing carried pivotallyby said bracket for the free end of said armature-shaft.

IOO

IIO

3. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising a stand, a stationary post orcolumn projecting vertically therefrom and having its upper portionreduced to constitute a supporting-shaft, a rotary cloth-cutter,swinging arms carrying the same at one end, and at their other endprovided with a vertical sleeve, a housing adjustably mounted on saidpost below its reduced part, said sleeve being carried by said housingand journaled on said reduced part, a bracket secured to and extendinglaterally from said supporting-shaft above said sleeve, an electricmotor mounted on said bracket vertically above said post, and belt andpulley connections from the armature-shaft of said motor for operatingsaid rotary cutter.

4. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising a stand, a stationary post orcolumn projecting vertically therefrom and having its upper portionfreduced to constitute a supporting-shaft, a rotary cloth-cutter,swinging arms carrying vthe same at one end, and at their other endstand, a stationary post or column projecting vertically therefrom andhaving its upper portion reduced to constitute a supporting-shaft, arotary cloth-cutter, swinging arms carrying the same at one end, and attheir other end provided with a vertical sleeve, a housinghavingthreaded connection with said post below said reduced part, saidhousing having an inwardly-projecting shoulder above its threaded part,said sleeve fitting between said housing and said supporting-shaft andcarried on said shoulder, a bracket secured to and extending laterallyfrom said supportingshaft above said sleeve to permit free swingingmovement of said arms to any position, an electric motor mounted on saidbracket above said post, and driving connections from the armature-shaftof said motor for driving said cutter. A

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to-this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

PATRICK HOWE.

Witnesses: e

GEO. H. MAXWELL, Guo. W. GREGORY.

